The Effects Of A Thoroughly Scrubbed Thinkpan
by BlissfulCacophony
Summary: The Condescension has had enough of rebellion, but what to do with all those who retaliate? Obviously brainwash them so well that it alters their personality, and put them in a poverty stricken, walled slum with no hope of escape. A homestuck AU with 2P Hetalia inspired altered personalities.
1. A New Roommate

The Public Hive Division. They were what the drones referred to as a mercy in the walled slums of the revel city, a gift from the High Imperious Condescension herself.

Karkat didn't believe it for a second.

They were a last resort for those with no place to go, and a place to herd those they wanted to keep a close eye on. The latter was something they denied, but Karkat had been herded there many a time. Get arrested after curfew once and it's the only place they'll let you be. Karkat couldn't think of anything being more a drag.

"So who's my roommate this time?" He asked the drone blankly as he was escorted up the metal stairs.

The drone naturally didn't say anything, and stopped at one of the plain grey numbered doors, knocking on it heavily.

"I said I'm not going to take any more of that think-pan-numbing shit!" lisped a voice as the door was opened forcefully. Out stepped a confused troll with shaggy unkept black hair and an overly large black and yellow striped sweater. He looked around through his blue and red glasses and the drone roughly pushed Karkat in front of him.

"Hi." Said Karkat, his expression flat. "I'm your new roommate." He pushed passed the troll and into the messy hive, sighing deeply at the fact that he'd been put with a crazy, and a disorganized one at that.

"Oh." Said the disheveled troll, closing the door and following Karkat into the living room. "Well sorry about the mess, then. I only get roommates if the division is really crowded." He plopped down on a pile of dirty laundry. "I hate crowds." He looked up at Karkat. "My name is Sollux Captor by the way. What's yours?"

Sollux. Karkat thought the name almost rang a bell, but he wasn't sure. It could have just been false hope. He had once been told that most people retained subconscious memories of people they knew before their think-pans were scrubbed thoroughly of who they once were, and they, now empty excuses for people, were thrown into this awful place. Since then, Karkat was always kind of paying attention, but he'd only been able to confirm one, and only because she triggered all kinds of weird emotional responses from him. He wasn't going to dismiss this one just yet, but he wasn't about to give this kid any special treatment.

"I don't care what your name is." He answered flatly. "You don't need to know mine either. I'm just here to eat, sleep, and use the utilities. You wont even notice I'm here." He walked through the living room to the short hallway in the back. "Now which room is mine and which one do you keep the load gaper in?"

Sollux rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first roommate like this that he'd had. "Your room is to the. . .that way." He pointed to the right. "and the load gaper is the across from it. . .wait. . .no." He looked at his hands and then at the hall. "The opposite way. Yeah."

Karkat looked back at him, noting the look of immense concentration on his face as he stared at his fingers, before scoffing and kicking off his bright red high-tops, tossing his leopard print jacket onto the couch, and shutting himself in the bathroom. Immediately he was faced with himself in the dirty mirror, tired back-lined eyes, pale grey skin, small horns hiding in relentlessly bleached hair, black ribbed tank-top, red fingerless gloves. It was much different than how he looked right after his memory was erased, with messy black hair and a black turtle neck with his symbol printed on it in grey. Apparently his old self had been embarrassed about his mutant blood color, so he started wearing his blood color and changed his hair color, keeping only the hairstyle and the skinny jeans. He felt the need to be as different from his old self as possible. It's not like there was any chance of being him again anyway.

He wiped off his face, then walked into his room where he stripped down to his black boxers and scowled a the fact that there was only a bare human bed and no recuperacoon. He had slept in a recuperacoon only once, as far as he could remember, and he believed that's what trolls were supposed to sleep in, but they seemed terribly hard to come by. Sighing, he remembered how the public hive division would be the last to have that luxury and laid on the mattress.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep when suddenly his phone buzzed in his pocket. Oh no. Not her again.

"Heard you were in the PHD again, loser." Read the words in bright turquoise across the screen.

"None of you business." Answered Karkat, his text naturally a bright red.

"Oh, so cold baby. What's wrong? Missing the abuse? If you wanna roughhouse, just call me and I'll punch in your sickeningly sweet smelling face."

"Whatever. I'm not a psycho-masochist like you, Terezi. I enjoy not being covered in bruises all the time."

"I prefer sadist. I play with you because you're so cute when you try to defend yourself instead of fighting back, and I know you like it, you little slut. Arguing with me just makes you look like an idiot, but then again, it also makes you fun."

"I don't fight back because I know that's what you want me to do. You'd just be oh so satisfied to make me break my calm and flip out. Not gonna happen, Pyrope. Never."

"Oh you're such a killjoy Vantas, baby. You'd blow off your dear kismesis just like that? You know it's inadvisable. You should really be keeping me pleased. I'm all you have."

Karkat paused, hating that she was right. "Why do you even care what happens to me? You already have that filthy rainbow drinker matesprit of yours."

"Oh, I don't care what happens to you, as long as you're there to keep me satisfied. Kanaya can't do everything after all. Now, I expect you at our hive at 500 hours tomorrow. Got it?

"That's clear across town!"

"Don't be late, or my matesprit will be having cherry syrup for dinner."

Karkat groaned. This was such a drag, Terezi pushing him around like this. "Yes, your highness." he messaged back. It's not like he was actually going to go. If she wanted him so badly, she was going to have to do all the hard work. He turned off his phone and kicked it to the corner of the room. He didn't feel like talking to anyone else.

He turned over on his side, burrowing under the standardized blankets, closing his eyes to sleep. There was some noise in the hall, Sollux walking around, but it seemed he would be a quiet roommate, even though he was a bit out there.

Suddenly the door opened, allowing obnoxious light to flood into the room and Karkat rethought that. He sat up, glaring at the troll in the doorway. "What do you want?"

Sollux took a deep breath. "Your name is Karkat Vantas. You're nine sweeps old. Your blood color is bright red, and I think we were friends once, before this.

Karkat's eyes widened. Oh no. He was one of those types, the ones who resisted the brainwashing, and were messed up from the multiple "touch ups" they had endured to re-wash their brains. They had a tendency to drag their roommates down with them.

"Okay. Advice from one piece of lowblood trash to the next," started Karkat, "I don't want to hear about anything from my life before. Whoever I was back then is gone. I don't want to know about him and I don't want touchups because of him. Got it?"

Sollux looked a little dejected. "Right. . .sorry. . .good-night." He mumbled, and then closed the door again.

Karkat laid down, feeling that sleep was going to be harder than he thought.


	2. Fight Night

The crowd was loud tonight, thought Tavros, as he watched the disheveled crowd of trolls file into the underground amphitheater. In the middle of the circle of tiered metal benches was a steel cubical cage, the floor and bars of which were covered in dried multicolored blood from those wounded in past fights. It held all hues, from rusty maroon to the precious royal fuchsia of Tavros's star fighter. It didn't matter your caste. No one was too high or low to come and play.

The reward for playing and giving Tavros's many patrons a distraction from their dull, empty lives? Tavros patted the hefty cash prize next to him, sitting on a gold painted pedestal for the winner of the night. People called him crazy for giving out such a load each week, but it's not as if Tavros couldn't afford it. When it came to the underground market, either he owned it, or he would soon.

"I-I got your soda for you. . .Sir." Came a meek voice from behind him.

Tavros ran one hand past his cut off shorts onto the cold steel of his studded mechanical legs, and held the other one out for the drink. "Took you long enough." He said coldly.

"I'm sorry sir." Said the same meek girl.

Tavros brought the straw to his pierced lips and took a sip, which immediately caused a look of disgust to come onto his face. "Do you know what's wrong with the Soda you just brought me?"

"Um. . .It should be perfectly fine sir. I got it just how you asked."

Tavros slammed the glass down on the table and stood, his knees creaking as he did so. "It's flat!" he shouted, glaring at the blue blood girl who stood across from him, looking terrified. She had a patch over one eye, and a mechanical arm, but that didn't make her look any less pathetic. He splashed the soda in her face to which she only flinched. "Get me another one Serket, and this time, do it right."

She nodded, wiping the soda from her face with her sleeve, taking the cup and leaving.

Tavros scoffed, and sat back down in his chair. His left leg made a popping sound and he cringed. "Shit. These legs. I swear I need a tuneup for these damn things every week."

"Don't let them hear you say that." Came the voice of Aradia, who was standing next to him, looking bored, twirling her tirelessly straightened, red-streaked hair. "They'll all think you're weak or something."

"Hey, do I look weak to you?" He knocked on his toned chest, which showed under his loose black vest, the shoulders of which were studded like his metal legs. Despite having a small build, he certainly didn't look tame or the kind of person you'd want to mess with. He had a piercing on one side of his lip, two on the opposite eyebrow, and one in his nose, like a bull. His mohawk was dyed bright red and hung loose and shaggy into his face, and his horns were polished, the tips coming to deadly points. A metal chain hung around his neck, and his torso and arms were well muscled. He kept a set of brass knuckles on each hand just for the look.

Aradia looked down on him. "No, you don't, but you can barely stand, and that hardly makes you threatening."

Tavros rolled his eyes. "Shut it Megido. A good tuneup and I'll be in that cage again taking the prize money for myself."

Aradia sighed dramatically. "Whatever you say."

Tavros rolled his black lined eyes and looked to the dingy concrete balcony just below his own. Equius leaned against the railing, a smirk on his face, reflecting his smooth, unbreakable calm, and his "can't be told what to do" attitude. Tavros knew the heavyweight troll was only in all this for the money, but then again, who wasn't? Next to him was Feferi, the undefeated highblood who had been contracted with him ever since he started up the fights. Tavros always thought she was interesting. All the violent attitude and disposition of a true tyrant in someone who couldn't care less about what color someone's blood was. If she didn't like them, she'd beat them up, and no one could tell her otherwise.

Though Tavros liked her, he didn't like that she kept to other highbloods and seadwellers when it came to her romantic pursuits. This wasn't because he had any interest in her, but because the seadweller she was red for, who just happened to be the only other seadweller he knew, was the person he was black for. He saw her waving to someone, and in the sea of trolls, Tavros spotted the purple, spiky mohawk of Eridan Ampora, who was waving back with one of his awful smooth smirks. He hated everything about that guy, from his power to seduce pretty much everyone he encountered, to the exaggerated amounts of chain, leather, plaid, and fishnet he wore on his body. He would ban Eridan from his fights, were it not for Feferi standing in the way.

He looked over to Vriska, who was carefully walking back with a new glass of Faygo. That was probably why he made a point to treat her so horribly. She was Eridan's moirail after all, which would always baffle Tavros, and knowing that her boss treated her like spoiled grubsauce ruined Eridan's fun every time he came. It's not like he could really fight this either. Aradia was the only one auspiceticing them, and she, like Vriska, worked for him. She knew full well that Tavros had the liberty to treat his employees however he liked as long as they were paid, especially since Vriska could never make it without that pay, and she would remind Eridan of that every time he protested. Being Tavros's employee also meant she held a double standard. She's often be just as cruel to Vriska as Tavros was.

"A fresh drink, Sir." Mumbled Vriska as she handed Tavros the new glass.

Tavros took a drink from the new glass and nodded. "Not great, but better." He said. "Now be a dear and rub my shoulders, but watch the horns, I just got those polished."

Vriska nodded. "Yes, sir." She muttered, and then began to rub his shoulders.

Tavros couldn't say he liked the feel of her mechanical fingers through his vest, but it's not like he was going to get any better.

Aradia glared over at Vriska. "I don't know why you keep her Tavros, she's so useless."

"Kismesistude is a delicate game." Said Tavros. "Vriska, one of my best playing cards. Besides, she serves her purpose, even if she's pathetic at it."

"She's pathetic in more ways than that." Sneered Aradia.

Vriska listened as they talked as if she wasn't really there. Her hands shook. They already had such a low opinion of her. She couldn't mess up something as simple as this. The more she tried to focus, the more nervous and shaky she became until her hand slipped, knocking into one of Tavros's large horns. Tavros tensed, and Vriska backed up in horror.

Aradia laughed mockingly. "You really screwed up this time, Serket."

Tavros got up slowly and walked over to her, looking sternly into her scared eyes. "What did I say about watching the horns?"

"I'm sorry, sir, it was an accident, I–"

He cut her off by slapping her across the face. "We'll talk about this later." He stated.

"Just make sure I'm around to watch." chuckled Aradia coldly.

Tavros started walking back, but his knees buckled suddenly underneath him.

Aradia caught him. "That's what you get for putting off your tuneup." She said, and walked him back to his chair.

"Not a word to anyone about this." He said sternly as he sat back down.

"Hey, Boss." Said Feferi as she walked up the stairs and onto Tavros's balcony. "You wont believe who I just saw in the crowd, in the volunteer section."

"Try me." Said Tavros.

Feferi walked up to him and leaned against his chair. "None other than Karkat Vantas, Pyrope's little black rom pet."

Tavros turned to her, suddenly interested, slipping his hand around her bare waist. "Oh really now? What do you think we should do, girls?"

Aradia stood in front of Feferi, her steel-toed boots clanking on the concrete floor. "I think Peixes already has a matesprit, and should stop getting fresh with the boss."

Feferi glared at Aradia, flipping her long, straightened fuchsia hair over her shoulder. "Like you're one to talk Megido. Don't you have some aupiceticing to do, or did you forget?"

Aradia clenched her fists. "You want to start something Peixes? I don't need to wait until we're in the cage to take you."

Feferi smirked. "Oh, because you're just that much in a hurry to get a beat down aren't you?"

"Break it up." Said Tavros in annoyance. "I asked you both a question."

"Right. Vantas." Said Aradia with a sneer. "I say put him in the ring. That stoic motherfucker would be fun to destroy." She cracked her knuckles, smiling sadistically.

"It would get us on Pyrope's bad side though." Said Feferi with a dramatic sigh. "You know how possessive she gets. I'd hate to deal with her worthless drunk of a matesprit again."

"What's wrong, Peixes?" Asked Aradia. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything, or are rainbow drinkers the exception?"

"I'm not scared." Said Feferi, annoyed. "She wouldn't be able to even touch me. I'm just saying it would be a pain."

Tavros rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But Pyrope is a pain enough as is. That lowlife con-artist has done nothing but lure my employees, harvest their blood, which is creepy to say the least, and steal money from me. Maybe it's time for a little pay back. We'll show her that we can play dirty too. She's not the boss here. That title belongs to me, and I intend to keep it that way."

Aradia chuckled. "Sounds like we're going to have a fun night. I think candy red will be a nice addition to the cage's paint-job."

"You know who else is going to make our night interesting?" Asked Equius as he joined them on the balcony.

Tavros looked down at his black fingernails. "Tell me, Equius."

Equius smirked and pointed at the volunteer section. "See her, in the black catsuit?"

Tavros leaned forward and peered at the crowd. There, in a tight black leather catsuit, looking smug and nonchalant, was a slender troll with stout horns, short hair, and cat-like fangs.

"Nepeta Leijon." Growled Tavros. "What's she doing here?"

"Leijon? You mean, as in the private assassin Leijon?" Asked Feferi. "What the hell does she want?"

"Maybe to fight?" Suggested Aradia.

Equius scoffed. "That's not like Nepeta. She has something up her sleeve. She always does."

Tavros wove his fingers together, studying the cocky troll carefully. "Make sure you choose her for the fights as well."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Asked Aradia.

"No, but it will be interesting." Said Tavros with a smirk. "And maybe, just maybe, she was a good girl and took my job offer."

"You offered her a job?" Asked Equius.

"Yes." Tavros smirked. "I thought she might be able to eradicate a certain rainbow drinker for us."

Feferi picked up her trident. "I don't see why we can't just take her out ourselves."

Tavros clicked his tongue. "Feferi, my dear star fighter, you may be good in the ring, but there's much you need to learn about business. Playing dirty requires tact. Now, are we ready to start the show?"

"Whenever you are, boss." Said Feferi.

"Alright then. Get me my microphone, you all go down and pick out four each from the volunteer rows. I'll get us started."

The three nodded and went down to the cage while Vriska hurriedly went about getting Tavros a microphone. In a booth a little off to the side, Tavros saw the technical crew. He cued them and suddenly the lights went out. The chattering crowd went silent as human heavy metal played loudly over the speakers.

Tavros flinched as a bright light came on over his head. "Hey, how's everybody doing tonight?" He asked loudly and enthusiastically.

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Who's ready for volunteer fight night?!" He called over the music.

There were more cheers.

Tavros looked disappointed. "Come on! You can all do better than that! I said, who's ready for fight night?!"

The crowed screamed louder than ever.

Tavros smirked. "Good, good. Now, for those of you who don't know the game, it's simple. We have our house competitors. First, Aradia Megido."

A spotlight shone on Aradia who grinned wildly and punched her fist into her palm, looking intimidating with her steel-toed black combat boots and black vest that was the only thing covering her torso besides a black netted shirt. Her curled horns came into shining points on either side of her head.

"Equius Zahhak!"

Equius regarded the crowd coldly through his broken shades, stony and musclebound, wearing combat boots, grey jeans, a studded belt, and a black vest similar to Tavros's.

"And finally, my star fighter, Feferi Peixes!"

Feferi spun her trident stylistically, and did a couple of kicks at the air. She wore only a pink sports bra, short black athletic shorts, fishnets, and a pair of fuchsia hightops, and she was a natural with the crowd as always.

"Aradia and Equius will choose eight volunteers each from the crowd. Those volunteers will be paired up to fight until one is knocked out or pinned for five seconds. The winner will advance, the loser will receive free medical service as needed for participating. We are civil trolls here after all. Once only two competitors remain, Aradia and Equius will each choose one to fight. The winners will fight each other, and the final winner will take on Feferi. Let me remind you all that Feferi's royal blood comes with inherited highblood strength. She has been defeated only once since she became my champion and that was by a mysterious highblood that no one has seen since. Now, choose your volunteers!

Karkat groaned. He just had to sit in the volunteer section. He just had to not look at the signs. Normally, he'd just relax and make himself scarce, but he noticed Peixes eyeballing him earlier. Why did he have to be the victim? It wasn't his fault his kismesis liked to con these people.

"Ugh. Whatever." He sighed. At least he had his sickles on him.

Aradia paced thoughtfully, sizing up the crowd, then her eyes landed on Karkat. "You." She said. "The bleach blonde with the animal print jacket."

Karkat groaned. Had he seriously just been picked first? Just his luck.

"Couldn't resist me after all, could you now babe?" He asked with a smirk, getting out of his seat in the bleachers and walking down to the platform.

"Don't get cocky, Vantas." Said Aradia coldly. "I just can't wait to see your freakish blood splattered on our lovely little cage."

Karkat rolled his eyes. "Whatever makes you happy, Megido. Just get on with this. I don't want to be up here any longer than I have to."

"Oh, good." Said Aradia. "Because we already know you wont last long. I'd say I hope you like a good beat down, but being the blackrom whore you are, I already know you do."

Karkat just crossed his arms and gave her an annoyed look.

"You, in the catsuit." Said Equius, and down to the platform slinked the confident Nepeta Leijon.

"Oh, I was hoping this would happen." She purred, looking seductively up from under her heavily blackened eyelashes that stood out under olive green eyeshadow. She smirked smugly, her high-heeled boots silent as she walked. "Then again, I knew Tavros wouldn't pass up the opportunity to have me in his show." She walked up to Feferi. "Get ready to lose tonight dear."

"Oh, I'm so scared of the little kitty." Scoffed Feferi sarcastically.

Nepeta laughed. "You just keep up that confidence, Peixes. It will be so much better when I crush it."

"As if you could beat me."

Nepeta inspected her gloves. "I don't know if you've noticed yet, but this cat has claws. There's the reason I'm well known. I never miss my mark."

Feferi glared at her. "How long did it take you to put on all that makeup Leijon?"

Nepeta looked over at her slyly. "How long did it take you to bleach all the black out of your hair, pinky?"

"Just get in line, Leijon."

Nepeta laughed and walked away.

Aradia and Equius finished choosing the teams, then sent the names to Tavros who sorted them into slots and sent them to the technical crew. Soon, the names appeared on a large screen on the wall.

"Vriska." Said Tavros.

"Yes?" Asked Vriska meekly.

"Go down there and help the losers out. See to their injuries, help them out of the cage, that stuff." He said.

She nodded and walked down to the platform.

Karkat groaned when he saw the lineup for the first fight. Him vs. Leijon. This was going to be such a drag. Were they out to kill him or something? Probably.

"Our first competitors are Nepeta Leijon, and Karkat Vantas!" Boomed Tavros over the speakers.

The crowd cheered and Karkat removed his jacket and tank top, keeping the studded collar choker and beanie.

"Hold onto these for me, hunny." He said, shoving his clothes into Vriska's arms. "I'd hate to get olive blood all over them."

"Showing off a little aren't we Vantas?" Asked Nepeta as they both stepped into the cage, which Aradia locked behind them.

"Just giving the audience what they want to see." Answered Karkat with a smirk.

"I'm not impressed."

"Does it look like I care what you think?"

"Are the competitors ready?" Boomed Tavros.

Equius gave him a thumbs up.

"Then let the fight begin!"

Karkat drew his sickles, trying his best to look like he stood a chance.

Nepeta flicked her wrists and three long claw-like knives flashed out from her sleeves. The crowd cheered. So much for standing a chance. She and Karkat circled each other slowly, anticipating the other's movements, staring at each other intensely, waiting for the other to strike first. Around them, the crowd became quiet, silently urging them to make a move, they're eyes pressuring them to strike.

Karkat was the first to cave, swiping quickly at Nepeta's face. She blocked him with her claws and swiped at his stomach with the other hand and he backed away quickly, sucking his stomach in to avoid injury. Nepeta smirked at him before striking at his face, to which Karkat ducked quickly and went for her ribs. Seamlessly, Nepeta blocked him again, and swiped her claws across his upper arm.

Karkat clenched his teeth and felt cherry blood running down his pale skin. Nepeta took the opportunity to run at him, slashing his chest and stomach, then pushed him down to his knees.

"Too easy." Said Nepeta. "Just as I expected."

For a moment, Karkat felt something flare in him, a rare fire of anger, a forgotten bad temper. He used it to push himself up, ignoring the pain as he did so.

"Well then, look who's getting up. Impressive." Mused Nepeta, walking around him casually. "Too bad it wont las–" She paused when Karkat pounced, and dodged just barely as the edge of his sickle grazed her cheek. Reflexively, she kneed him in the stomach and then kicked him with the heel of her boot to the floor. "Nice try." She said, wiping the blood off her cheek. She held her foot on his chest until the crowd had counted down from five and declared her the winner.

Karkat cringed when she lifted her foot off of him, and he realized fully how much the scratches hurt. Aradia unlocked the cage and Nepeta walked out proudly to the roaring of the audience. Vriska entered the cage once she was out, and walked over to Karkat, holding her real hand out to help him up. Karkat glanced sideways at the crowd, and then disregarded her hand and got up by himself, hissing as the gashes on his torso flared with pain.

"I'll patch you up." Said Vriska. "Just follow me."

Karkat followed Vriska out of the cage, off the platform, down a hall, and into a small infirmary off to the side. Vriska had him sit down on the battered hospital-style rolling bed, and quietly cleaned and bandaged his wounds, giving him his tank top and jacket when she was done.

"Thanks." Said Karkat flatly, and without another word he left.

Back in the cage, Nepeta was rising through the ranks. Tavros watched curiously as she defeated all her challengers and barely even broke a sweat. Maybe they'd have a new winner tonight.

That became more likely when Equius chose her to fight. She defeated him, and after him Aradia. A smirk spread on Tavros's face. This was the first time in a long time that a competitor had gotten past both of them on the days they decided to fight, and the crowd was loving it. He had even spot late comers squeezing in just to see her fight. If anything she was bringing business.

"Will you look at this, ladies and gentletrolls?" Said Tavros over the microphone. "Nepeta Leijon has risen through the ranks, and look at her, she's still raring to go."

The crowd cheered as Nepeta strutted across the platform.

"Now, it's time for our final battle of the night. Nepeta will be taking on our star fighter Feferi Peixes! Good luck to both fighters and may the best troll win!"

The crowd roared with excitement as Aradia opened the cage for Nepeta and Feferi.

"After you." Said Nepeta smugly.

Feferi glared at her and stepped into the cage.

Nepeta flicked her wrists and her claws again slid out of her sleeves. Feferi hefted her trident over her shoulder confidently. This cat didn't scare her. Atleast, she didn't, until she unexpectedly struck, too fast for Feferi to even process at first. She quickly swung her trident down, and blocked Nepeta just barely, pushing her off violently.

Tavros drummed his fingers on the arms of his chair as he watched. They seemed matched as they danced around the cage, struggling to get the upper hand.

"Come on, Peixes." He said. "Show her who's boss."

But Feferi wasn't thinking the same thing. Nepeta was. . .good. No. She wasn't allowed to be this good. She was not allowed to win. She could not spoil her title like that!

"What's wrong Peixes?" Asked Nepeta. "Is the big fish afraid of the little scary cat?"

Feferi growled and struck at Nepeta with renewed force.

Her anger, as Tavros could now tell, was not helping her though. She was slipping up, more and more each time, tiring out. Would she lose this time? Would Nepeta really defeat her?

"What a fight!" Said Tavros through the microphone. "Is Nepeta, a professional assassin might I add, really gaining the upper hand on our full time fighter?"

She was.

The crowd went silent when Nepeta pushed Feferi to the ground, kicking the gold trident to the edge of the cage. Feferi panted underneath Nepeta's boot, and her face became increasingly angered as the crowd counted down.

5. .4. . .3. . .2. . .1.

She could say goodbye to her title.

"And Nepeta Leijon is the winner!" Cried Tavros. "She will receive the prize money for the night, and a contract offer. . .if she's interested. That's all we have for tonight everyone! Thank you for coming! We'll let you go before you get caught out after curfew."

As the crowd left, Nepeta climbed the stairs to Tavros's balcony.

"My prize, Nitram." She said, walking up to him.

Tavros handed her the bag of cash. "It's all yours, Leijon. I suppose you did those so I would have to give you something more interesting than money in order to get you to take my job offer."

Nepeta laughed. "Oh you know me too well Nitram, also I just had too much fun destroying your little star."

"I'm supposing you're not interested in a contract."

"Do I look desperate to you?"

"Are you still interested in the job?"

"Tell me more. It sounded intriguing, but I'm not making any promises."

Tavros leaned in closer. "I would want you to eradicate a certain Kanaya Maryam. Do you know her? She's a local rainbowdrinker who's given us a lot of trouble."

Nepeta smirked. "Oh yes, I know her. It would be my pleasure to tear that worthless slob apart. Still, it depends on how I'm getting paid."

Tavros thought for a moment. What could he give her that wouldn't be a pain to replace?

"I'm back, sir." Came Vriska's contrite voice as she walked up the stairs.

Perfect.

"Vriska, come here." Said Tavros.

Vriska obeyed, and Tavros stood, seizing her mechanical arm and detaching it from it's socket. Vriska stared at him in shock.

"How does this work?" Asked Tavros, holding up the arm.

Nepeta took it from him curiously. "I think that will do just fine."

With that she went down the stairs, and disappeared into the night.

Feferi looked after her, steaming, while Vriska watched her arm go in dismay.

"Sir." She pleaded. "How will I work without my arm?"

"You'll figure it out." Said Tavros. "And be sure to tell Ampora all about it. That will shatter his cool calm for sure."

Aradia leaned against the railing next to Feferi, listening to their conversation. "You were right Feferi. I never do my job as an auspictice, but honestly, would it be any fun if I did?"


End file.
